Football

England and France set for fascinating World Cup quarterfinal match

3 years ago - Sportingbase

What we found out on Sunday was what an explosive player French superstar Kylian Mbappe of Paris can be. The 23-year-old striker who plays for France’s Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1, scored two magnificent goals against Poland in the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He was definitely the difference maker in a 3-1 win over Poland.

Mbappe’s first goal came in the 74th minute to put France 2-0. There is a reason why Mbappe plays the striker position because he delivered an amazing strike past multiple Polish defenders and their goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny. Then in the 91st minute, Mbappe was at it again, with a remarkable shot in the top right corner. Szczesny did a great job in following the ball, but Mbappe put it in a spot where Szczesny could not reach.

Mbappe now has five goals in four games to lead the tournament. French football history was also made in the 44th minute on Sunday when Olivier Giroud of AC Milan opened the scoring. Giroud scored his 52nd goal all-time for France, as he passed Thierry Henry for the most French international goals all-time.

England then beat Senegal 3-0 on goals by Jordan Henderson of Liverpool in the 38th minute, Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur in the third minute of extra time in the first half, and Bukayo Saka of Arsenal in the 57th minute.

The wins by England and France mean they will face each other in the quarterfinals on Saturday. This will be the third time ever in the World Cup that England will have played France. England won 2-0 in Group 1 Action in 1966 thanks to two goals by Roger Hunt. Then in 1982, England beat France again 4-1 in Group 4 action thanks to two goals by Bryan Robson. What makes Saturday’s tilt so intriguing is that it will be the first time that England will have played France in the knockout stage of the World Cup and it will feature the remarkable offense of France against an English team that has had three consecutive clean sheets since giving up two goals to Iran to begin the tournament.